Card connector

ABSTRACT

The stopper portion that blocks the movement of the ejection member in the card ejection direction is disposed at the position which met in the width direction of card connector, and is in the position of the same side as the position with the elastic body  60  which urges the ejection member in the card ejection direction. This arrangement can hold the attitude of the ejection member straight relative to the connector, thus preventing troubles such as an inadvertent unlocking of the eject lock and an unstable contact between the contact pads of the card and the contact terminals of the connector.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a card connector mounted on electronicdevices, such as cellular phones, telephones, PDA (personal digitalassistant), portable audio devices and digital cameras, and morespecifically to a structure of the card connector for ejecting a card.

BACKGROUND ART

In electronic devices such as cellular phones, telephones, PDA anddigital cameras, a variety of functions are added by loading an IC cardwith a built-in IC (integrated circuit) like control circuit, memory,such as a SIM (subscriber identity module), an MMC (multimediacard)(trademark), a Smart Media (trademark) and an SD (secure digital orsuper density) card.

In a connector structure for removably accommodating such an IC card, aplurality of contact terminals made from a resilient metal leaf areprovided in a connector housing to make contact with a plurality ofcontact pads formed on the front or back surface of the loaded IC cardto electrically connect the IC card to the electronic device mountingthat connector. The contact pads of the IC card include a powersupplying pad connected to a power supply line and a plurality of signalpads for transmitting and receiving various signals. These contact padsare connected via the contact terminals of the card connector to a powercircuit and various signal processing circuits in the electronic device.

Many of such card connectors have an ejection mechanism for ejecting aloaded IC card from the connector.

An ejection mechanism of this kind currently available is known to havean ejection member urged in an ejection direction to eject a IC card, alocking member for blocking the movement of the ejection member in theeject direction, and an ejection button member to release the lockingmember to allow the ejection member to move and eject the card. Anexample of such a prior art is shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, the ejection member 100 is configured to slide relative tothe connector body in a card insertion direction A and a card ejectiondirection B and is urged in the ejection direction B by a coil spring102. An engagement portion 101 adapted to engage the locking member 110is arranged in the vicinity of the locking member 110 made from a leafspring so that the locking member 110 can lock the ejection member 100.A connecting portion 104 is arranged to connect between the engagementportion 101 and the ejection member 100 and formed integral with theengagement portion 101 and the ejection member 100. The locking member110 has a lock hole for latching together the engagement portion 101 toblock the movement of the ejection member 100 in the ejection directionB. A tapered surface 121 is formed at its front end side of the ejectionbutton 120 tapered surface, and comes in contact with the front end ofthe locking member 110. 130 denotes a brake shoeshoe made from a leafspring to prevent the card from slipping off. 140 designates ends of twocontact pieces that constitute a card recognition switch. These twocontact pieces are configured to contact each other by one of them beingvertically displaced by a downward pressing force of the underside of aside edge portion 100 a of ejection member 100.

In the conventional structure described above, pressing operation of theejection button 120 displaces the locking member 110 in a direction D bythe pressing force of the tapered surface 121, disengaging theengagement portion 101 from the locking member 110. The ejection member100 therefore is moved in the ejection direction B by the spring forceof the coil spring 102, while ejecting the loaded card out of theconnector.

In many cases, the card connector of this kind is often required toreduce its size and height, which necessitates various parts of theconnector to be laid out efficiently in a small space.

To satisfy this requirement, rather than arranging the ejection member100 and the ejection button 120 on the one side of the cardaccommodating space, it is advantageous to place them on the both sidesof the card accommodating space respectively as shown in FIG. 5 becausethis arrangement allows various parts to be laid out efficiently.

With this prior art, however, the engagement portion 101 is extended bythe connecting portion 104 to a position of the ejection button 120located on a side of the card accommodating space opposite the ejectionmember 100 so that the movement of the ejection member 100 is restrictedat a position on the ejection button 120 side. Thus, the locations ofthe coil spring 102 urging the ejection member 100 and the engagementportion 101 are largely spaced apart along the width direction. In thisprior art, accordingly, the ejection member 100 in itself is acted uponby an angular moment, so ejection member 100 is tilted, giving rise tovarious problems, such as the locking member 110 being easily unlocked,the electric connection between the IC card and the connector becomingunstable, and the card recognition switch 140 turning off when the cardis loaded.

The present invention has been accomplished under these circumstancesand it is an object of the present invention to provide a card connectorthat can prevent the tilting of the ejection member and support the cardstraight relative to the connector in which it is accommodated.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, the present invention provides a card connectorwhich comprises: a connector housing having a card accommodating portionand removably supporting a card; an ejection member having an touchportion for coming in contact with a front end face of the card, theejection member being slidable relative to the connector housing in acard insertion direction and in a card ejection direction; an elasticbody urging the ejection member in the card ejection direction; anejection button disposed in an opposite side to the elastic body on bothsides of the card accommodating portion; and a stopper locking meanshaving a stopper portion, the stopper portion being disposed in anopposite side to ejection button on both sides of the card accommodatingportion to regulate the movement of the ejection member in the cardejection direction, wherein when the ejection button is depressed, thestopper portion is made to move to an unlocking position to free theejection member and when the ejection button is released from thedepressing operation, the stopper portion is made to move toward ablocking position where it blocks the movement of the ejection member inthe card ejection direction.

The stopper locking means has, for example, a leaf spring portion forgenerating an elastic force acting in a direction perpendicular to thecard insertion direction and a slide portion connecting the leaf springportion and the stopper portion and moving the stopper portion in adirection perpendicular to the card insertion direction. These stopperportion, the leaf spring portion and the slide portion are integrallyformed as one piece.

In this invention, the stopper portion that blocks the movement of theejection member in the card ejection direction is arranged in anopposite side to the ejection button on both sides of the cardaccommodating portion opposite, i.e., ejection member is disposed at theposition which met in the width direction of card connector, and is inthe position of the same side as the position with the elastic bodywhich urges the ejection member in the card ejection direction.

This arrangement produces no angular moment acting on the ejectionmember, which in turn allows the ejection member to align its attitudestraight with the connector. It is therefore possible to preventtroubles, such as the contact between the contact pads and the contactterminals becoming unstable, the eject lock inadvertently gettingunlocked, and the card recognition switch undesirably being operated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal construction of thecard connector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the state of the card connector expressedin FIG. 1 before a card is inserted.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the state of the card connector expressedin FIG. 1 after the card is inserted.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a stopper locking member used inthe card connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a conventional card connector.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detailby referring to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal construction of thecard connector. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the state of the cardconnector before a card is inserted. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing thestate of the card connector after the card is inserted. FIG. 4 is aperspective view showing an example of a stopper locking member.

This card connector 1 is mounted on electronic devices such as cellularphones, PDA, portable audio devices and digital cameras.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the IC card 10 has a cutout portion 12 atits right front end portion of its body portion 11 to prevent anerroneous insertion of the card. On the back surface of the body portion11 are arranged a plurality of metallic contact pads (not shown) thatare electrically connected to an integrated circuit (IC) built into thecard. On one side surface of the IC card 10 is arranged a slidable writeprotect button 13 which, when slid to one position, inhibits datawriting into the card 10.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the card connector 1 has a connector housing 20 moldedfrom an insulating material such as resin. When a cover is needed, thehousing may be formed integral with the cover, or the cover may beprovided separately from the housing 20.

The IC card 10 is inserted into the card connector 1 through a cardinsertion opening 21 formed at the front of the housing 20.

The housing 20 comprises mainly a pair of side wall portions 22, 23, acard accommodating portion 30, a cross-plate portion 24 and a lowerplate 33. A pair of guide rails 31 for guiding and supporting the card10 is formed in the card accommodating portion 30. The card 10 is guidedat its both side edges by the guide rails 31 as it is moved in the cardinsertion direction A and the card ejection direction B.

The card accommodating portion 30 is also formed with an abutment wall32 against which the front-end of the inserted IC card 10 is pushed.

A plurality of press-fit grooves 34 for positioning and securing aplurality of contact terminals 40 is formed in the lower plate 33constituting a bottom wall of the card accommodating portion 30.

The contact terminals 40 include a power supply terminal and signalterminals. Each of the contact terminals 40 has a terminal portion 40 asoldered to an associated contact pad on a printed circuit board of theelectronic device, a fixed portion 40 b rigidly held in the press-fitgroove 34, and a contact spring portion 40 c elastically displaced tocome in contact with the contact pad of the card 10. The contact springportion 40 c has a contact portion 40 d projecting from the lower plate33 in an arc.

These contact terminals 40 make electrical connection between the card10 and the electronic device through their contact between a pluralityof contact terminals 40 and the contact pads of the card 10 and at thesame time provide an appropriate card holding force by their elasticforce when the card is loaded.

At one side portion of the card accommodating portion 30, there isprovided a write protect switch made up of a pair of spring-contactpieces 35, 36. These paired spring-contact pieces 35, 36 separablycontact according to the slide position of the write protect button 13on the card 10. By electrically detecting the state of the separablycontacting the position of the write protect button 13 is detected.

At the other side portion of the card accommodating portion 30 there isprovided a brake shoe 37 made from a leaf spring which prevents a cardfrom falling off. 45 denotes terminal portions of two contact piecesthat constitute a card recognition switch for detecting the presence orabsence of the card loading in the card connector. These two contactpieces are made to contact each other by one of them being verticallydisplaced by a downward pressing force of the underside of a projectingportion 51 of an ejection member 50 described later.

Next, the construction for card ejection, the essential part of thepresent invention, will be described.

The card ejection mechanism comprises an ejection member 50, an ejectionspring 60 as an elastic body (see FIG. 2), an ejection button 70, abutton spring 75, and a stopper locking member 80.

The ejection member 50 is nearly L-shaped and is configured to slideover a predetermined range in the card insertion direction A and thecard ejection direction B. The slide range of the ejection member 50 isset between a position where protruding portions 51, 52 of the ejectionmember 50 fit in and touch recessed portions 32 a, 32 b formed in theabutment wall 32 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 3) and another position where anabutment wall 53 of the ejection member 50 c comes in contact with astopper body 54 enclosing the brake shoe 37 (see FIG. 2). The ejectionmember 50 is urged in the ejection direction B by the ejection spring60, an elastic body (coil spring) inserted over a pin (see FIG. 2).

The ejection member 50 has a card touch portion 55 which the front endof the card 10 comes in contact with and a corner wall 56 which thecutout portion 12 of the card 10 comes in contact with. When the card isinserted, the ejection member 50 is slid in the card insertion directionA by the pushing force of the card 10.

A forefront end portion, on the near side, of the ejection member 50functions as a stopper touch portion 57 that comes in contact with astopper portion 81 of the stopper locking member 80 described later.

The ejection button 70 is arranged in an opposite side to the ejectionspring 60 urging the ejection member 50 on both sides of the cardaccommodating portion.

The ejection button 70 is mounted in the connector housing 20 in such amanner that it is slidable in the card insertion direction A and cardejection direction B by a distance equal to a stroke of its ejectoperation. The ejection button 70 is urged toward the near side(retraction direction) of the card connector 1 at all times by a buttonspring 75 that constructed of a coil spring. The tapered surface 71 isformed at its front end side of the ejection button 70, comes in contactwith a tapered surface touch portion 84 formed at the front end (on thenear side) of the leaf spring portion of the stopper locking member 80.

The stopper locking member 80, as detailed in FIG. 4, is integrallyformed in one piece by an approximately L-shaped metal material.

The stopper locking member 80 has: a slide portion 82 slidably installedin a guide groove 38 extending along width direction, formed in thelower plate 33 of the card accommodating portion 30; a cross-sectionalrectangle-like stopper portion 81 erected at a free end of the slideportion 82; a leaf spring portion 83 for moving the slide portion 82 inthe direction of arrow C by its elastic recovering force; a taperedsurface engagement portion 84 touching the tapered surface 71 of theejection button 70; a protruding portion 85 working as a stopper for ataper portion end 72 of the ejection button 70 (see FIG. 2); and an endportion 86 for supporting the leaf spring portion 83 at one point.

In this construction, the stopper portion 81 for regulating the movementof the ejection member 50 in the ejection direction, is arranged in theside in the connector housing, and is the same side on which theejection spring 60 is arranged in the connector housing. In thisembodiment, the position of the stopper portion 81's width direction isset at almost the same position as the axis of the ejection spring 60.

Next, the operation of the card connector 1 when the card is insertedand ejected will be described.

(Operation When Card Is Inserted)

Before the card is inserted, the ejection member 50 is urged by theejection spring 60 so that it assumes a near-side position where theabutment wall 53 comes in contact with the stopper body 54, as shownFIG. 2. In this state, the stopper touch portion 57 of the ejectionmember 50 is at an advanced position in the guide groove 38 formed inthe lower plate 33, while the stopper portion 81 of the stopper lockingmember 80 touching the side face of the stopper touch portion 57. Hence,at this time the slide portion 82 of the stopper locking member 80 isdisplaced in a direction D and accordingly, the leaf spring portion 83is also elastically displaced.

In this state, when the IC card 10 is inserted into the connector 1, thefront wall and the cutout corner portion 12 of the card 10 press againstthe card touch portion 55 and the corner wall 56 of the ejection member50, accordingly, the ejection member 50 is made to slide in the cardinsertion direction A against the force of the ejection spring 60. Whenthe card 10 is fully inserted in the connector 1, the side face of thestopper touch portion 57 of the ejection member 50 disengages from thestopper portion 81, allowing the slide portion 82 of the stopper lockingmember 80 to slide in the guide groove 38 in the direction of arrow C bythe recovering action of the leaf spring portion 83. As a result, thestopper portion 81 of the stopper locking member 80 moves to a positionwhere it blocks the return of the ejection member 50. The movement ofthe ejection member 50 in the card ejection direction B is regurated.

When the card 10 is inserted, the ejection button 70 is urged by thebutton spring 75 to be situated at a position not influenced by themovement of the stopper locking member 80.

The card 10 is loaded into the connector 1 as described above.

(Operation When the Card Is Ejected)

When, with the IC card 10 loaded, the ejection button 70 is depressed,the tapered surface 71 of the ejection button 70 pushes the taperedsurface engagement portion 84 of the stopper locking member 80. Thiscauses the slide portion 82 of the stopper locking member 80 to move inthe direction of arrow D, or in the unlocking direction, and the leafspring portion 83 to be elastically displaced in the direction of arrowD. As a result, the stopper portion 81 of the stopper locking member 80moves to the unlocking position, disengaging the stopper portion 81 fromthe stopper touch portion 57 of the ejection member 50, with the resultthat the ejection member 50 is made to move in the card ejectiondirection B by the urging force of the ejection spring 60, thus ejectingthe card 10. The ejection button 70, when it is released from thedepressing force, is automatically returned to the original position bythe force of the button spring 75.

As described above, in this card connector in which the ejection button70 is in an opposite side to the ejection member 50 and ejection spring60 on both sides of the card accommodating portion 30, the stopperportion 81 that blocks the movement of the card ejection direction B ofthe ejection member 50 is arranged at a position which met in the widthdirection of the card connector, and is the position of the same side asa position with the ejection spring 60 which urges the ejection member50 in the card ejection direction, i.e., the stopper portion 81 isarranged in an opposite side to ejection button 70 on both side of thecard accommodating portion 30. Therefore, the distance which met in thewidth direction between the stopper portion 81 and the ejection spring60 is short, so that no angular moment acts on the ejection member 50 asit would in the conventional construction, allowing the ejection member50 to align its attitude straight with the connector. Hence, it ispossible to prevent troubles, including the contact between the contactpads of the card 10 and the contact terminals 40 of the connector 1becoming unstable, the eject lock inadvertently getting unlocked, andthe card recognition switch undesirably being operated.

In this embodiment, the ejection member 50 is arranged in an oppositeside to the write protect switch on both sides of the card accommodatingportion 30 and this arrangement makes it possible to put variouscomponents efficiently and easily.

Although in the embodiment above the integrally formed stopper lockingmember 80 is used to enable or disable the blocking of the movement ofthe ejection member 50 in the card ejection direction according to thedepressing operation of the ejection button 70, any other arbitraryconstruction may be used to achieve the above function as long as thestopper portion 81 is situated at a position which met in the widthdirection of card connector, and is in the position of the same side asa position with ejection spring 60.

Further, in the embodiment above, the ejection spring 60 or the buttonspring 75 are not limited to the coil spring but may use any other kindof spring or any arbitrary elastic body.

What is claimed is:
 1. A card connector for inserting and ejecting acard, comprising: an ejection member configured to slide in a cardinsertion direction and a card ejection direction; an elastic body forurging said ejection member in said card ejection direction, wherein theelastic body is located on a first side of the card connector andwherein the first side of the card connector is a side of the cardconnector extending in a card insertion/ejection direction; an ejectionbutton located on a second side of the card connector, wherein thesecond side of the card connector is a side of the card connectoropposite the first side and extending in a card insertion/ejectiondirection; and a stopper locking means for regulating movement of theejection member, wherein: the stopper locking means comprises a stopperportion located on the first side of the card connector, wherein thestopper portion is configured to move to an unlocking position to freesaid ejection member to move in a card ejection direction when theejection button is depressed and configured to move to a blockingposition to block the movement of said ejection member in said cardejection direction when the ejection button is released from saiddepressed operation; and the stopper locking means comprises a leafspring portion for generating an elastic force acting in a directionperpendicular to said card insertion direction and a slide portionconnecting said leaf spring portion and said stopper portion and movingsaid stopper portion in a direction perpendicular to said card insertiondirection, and wherein said stopper portion, said leaf spring portionand said slide portion are integrally formed as one piece.
 2. The cardconnector according to claim 1, wherein said stopper portion and saidelastic body are disposed at almost the same position with respect to awidth direction of said card connector.
 3. The card connector accordingto claim 1, wherein said ejection button has a tapered surface to movesaid slide portion causing said stopper portion to move to saidunlocking position by a pressing force of said tapered surface.
 4. Thecard connector according to claim 1, further comprising an automaticresetting mechanism for automatically resetting said ejection button. 5.The card connector according to claim 1, wherein a write protectdetection switch for detecting a position of a write protect button onsaid card is located on a side opposite a side said ejection member islocated.